I will not waste my time talking about the negatives. Were I the proposer of this legislation, I would be very disappointed. This is a Government Minister of State coming in to three Government Senators to more or less tell them that there is a lot of work to do, there is huge concern, there are legitimate objectives, and there is public interest but in conclusion it is not proposed to do anything. I would be shocked and shattered. I would expect that kind of treatment directed towards this side of the House or to …

I will follow up on what the Senator said. I see it from his side. I believe it is good legislation and it is, in effect, a slap in the face from members of his party in the Government. That is the reality of it. I do not want to rub salt into the wound. Senator Ward has put a lot of work into this Bill. We have three Fine Gael Senators who brought this legislation to the House and who did a lot of work on it. I also thought there would be some amendments. I am somewhat surprised there are not. Words indicating thi…

The Minister is very welcome. I also welcome John O'Connor from the Housing Agency. At the outset, I acknowledge the work of Caroline Timmons, a very able person in the Department, who has aided, assisted and supported the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to deal with the complexities of this issue, and all of the Department's staff. I also welcome the homeowners affected by this issue in Donegal, Mayo, Clare, Limerick and other counties, whom I have no doubt are tuned in to this…

I will not be in a position to support the Order of Business. I will not repeat everything Senator McDowell said but I will say that I am concerned about the guillotine. I know Senator Doherty is the Leader and there are many demands on her in organising the proceedings of the House. However, it is not acceptable that we had no pre-legislative scrutiny of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022, about which her party knows a lot, and are now expected to fast-track the …

I will be brief. Amendments Nos. 27 to 29, inclusive, are self-explanatory so I will not go into great detail on them. I will mention two points. On the last occasion we discussed this Bill I spoke about lowering the age to 16 years, and the Minister of State told the House he was supportive. It is about engaging with people. I also pointed out how young people are so actively involved in activism and various campaigns on social issues, environmental issues and so forth. They want to have a voice. As I said on the …

Will the Acting Chair slow down?

I fully support this series of amendments and I thank Senator Ruane for setting them out. I have expressed some concerns before about the issues they raise. When we had a debate in this House on a Bill brought forward by Senator Malcolm Byrne dealing with similar issues, we were told the Government was looking at the matter and needed more detail. I am aware that a number of local authorities have had severe fines imposed on them relating to surveillance practices. In some cases, they related to focused and targete…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter. It focuses not exclusively on general apprenticeships but on cross-Border apprenticeships. This follows on from someone in Queen’s University Belfast, QUB, sending me a copy of a speech delivered in that university by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris. It was an impressive speech, which I acknowledge. The speech was given in the context of the one island approach, which is something the Government has p…

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. The takeaway from that is that the funding call for PEACE PLUS is about to be announced. I welcome that. The PEACE PLUS cross-Border initiative is amazing and fantastic and we need to tap into it. We can mutually benefit from that cross-Border relationship. I also acknowledge the ongoing work with SOLAS. That is important and I am delighted to hear it. The Minister of State also mentioned healthcare assistant practitioners, of which we have a shortage. That i…

I second the third proposed amendment to the Order of Business. I do so because I am extremely disappointed with the manner in which the Minister gave a commitment regarding the Higher Education Authority Bill. It is an important Bill and I had hoped to discuss several issues relating to it today. One of those issues relates to city and county councillors. I have a schedule in front of me listing the councillors, their party affiliations and the universities they serve. I will speak about it later if I have time. F…

Hear, hear.

I support the two Labour Party amendments. They are very basic. This is about transparency and openness. Surely no one has a difficulty with this. The amendments are worthy of support. I would like to think the Minister of State has given them consideration. With no disrespect to the Minister of State, for any Minister to read a piece of paper and tell us something is not possible is not good parliamentary engagement. I am challenging the Minister of State on this. These are very obvious basic asks. I am sure the M…

It should be 15 minutes.

Hear, hear.

There are three issues I wish to raise today: the Irish Thalidomide Association; scoliosis patients and the waiting lists relating thereto; and the EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022, which relates to the Order of Business. First, I want to read a letter which many of the Senators will also have received today. It states: Today is Thalidomide Memorial Day and if you can at 2pm today pause and think of all those people and their families who have been, and continue to be affected by the Thalidomide …

That explains a lot.